What comes first, giving or receiving?  I’ll answer with a another question.  What would you have to give if you had not first received something?  Receiving comes before giving.  It always has.  It began when Father God breathed into the nostrils of that dirt-shaped man, and he became a living soul.

We received Christ’s love in order that we may give it back to others.  The Bible says that  He [JESUS] came to His own, but His own did not receive Him, but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. How long have God’s people being doing anything we believe could pry a blessing out of God’s hand,  when actually the Lord has been raining down abundance all around us; more than we could ever handle.  He’s still here among us and doing everything He has always done.  But so many receive Him not.

If there is anything we must learn to do as believers, it is to RECEIVE from God! Jer 9:20 says, “…And let your ear receive the word of His mouth…” What good father is not ready to bless his children whenever he possibly can?  Our God did not save us to make things hard for his children.  He invites us to receive His goodness.

God is always talking, blessing, healing, comforting, loving, nurturing, assuring, laughing, encouraging, teaching, and yes, sometimes correcting.  But the correcting is simply to position us to receive all that He wants to do for us every day.  How many times in scripture do we read how God spoke, but the people would not listen?  Nothing has changed.  God is till trying to be the ‘above all you can ask or think’ God of abundance while we settle for the crumbs of our own limitations.

Romans 5 tells us that those who receive the abundance of grace…will reign in life.  We read that He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness…that all things are ours.  And here’s the mind blower, God was showering His people with abundance in the Old Testament thousands of years before Christ! (Dt. 28:47).  It’s very clear dear friends.  God’s love and His blessings are too much for us to manage on any given day.  The question is, “Will you receive?”

Here’s my confession –  “Lord, make me a joyful and grateful receiver of all you have for my life today.  Not just for what I need, but what I desire, and better yet, for what I am too limited to know to ask!  Thank you.”

I am a Receiver!  How about you?